the Hainan Airlines desk at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou city, south China's Hainan province. The carrier's owner is close to buying Hahn Airport in Germany. AP/ Imagechina
the Hainan Airlines desk at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou city, south China's Hainan province. The carrier's owner is close to buying Hahn Airport in Germany. AP/ Imagechina

The National

Chinese airline owner closes in on German airport purchase

Parent of Hainan Airlines in last stages of talks as it prepares to buy 24-hour Hahn facility about 120km from Frankfurt that is mainly used by Ryanair.

The acquisitive Chinese conglomerate HNA is in final talks over the purchase of Hahn airport in western Germany, the airport’s state owners said on Monday.

HNA, the owner of Hainan Airlines, has been active in the travel industry, buying the caterers Gate Group and a stake in Servair, plus the hotels group Hilton and a stake in the Brazilian airline Azul, among some of its recent deals.

It has teamed up with local German company ADC, run by the former politician Siegfried Englert, for the bid.

The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate had previously agreed to sell loss-making Hahn airport, a former military base now used mainly by Ryanair, to a Chinese company but the sale collapsed after the bidder failed to make any payments.

Rhineland Palatinate owns an 82.5 per cent stake in Hahn, with the rest owned by the neighbouring state of Hesse. It said three bids had been received in the latest sale process and after auditors had reviewed the offers, it had decided to enter into final-stage negotiations with ADC and HNA.

Hahn is about 120km from Frankfurt, Germany’s largest airport, but unlike Frankfurt, has a 24-hour operating licence, making it attractive for freight flights.

* Reuters

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Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

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